Sayre details the private and public life of a thirteen-year-old burdened with far more than the middle-school adjective of Pretty.

Though she appears confident, stylish, and easygoing at school, Sophie lives a nightmare at home. When her mother’s alcohol addiction spirals out of control, Sophie’s Auntie Amara steps in to help. She teaches Sophie new lessons about her family and heritage, while also challenging her to rethink how she feels about friends, boys, and even her sense of place in the Brooklyn neighborhood where she lives.

Sayre, a master storyteller in the coming-of-age genre, asks readers to confront superficial assumptions about gender and beauty, and breathes new life into the canon of middle-grade realistic fiction.